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The use of impact assessment can be characterised on a scale with 'proving impact' on one side and 'improving practices' on the other. Even though this is not an either/or scale, the two often do not combine automatically. In this article an adjusted Sustainable Livelihood Framework for impact assessment is developed that does justice to both. The use of this framework has implications in terms of a multi-method research approach, an extensive variety of data collection, and an in-depth data analysis. This is illustrated by applying the framework to a socio-economic impact study conducted for the DE Foundation coffee support project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 10-15 years there has been an expansion of interest in the subject of Development Studies (DS). There are now significantly more taught courses focused on DS, and research funds are booming. However, over the same period, DS has faced sustained critiques about its essential nature. This has led us to ask: what is Development Studies? And what could or should it be? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vast natural resources of India's forests, including non-timber forest products (NTFPs), such as medicinal and aromatic plants, leaves, fruits, seeds, resins, gums, bamboos, and canes, offer employment that provides up to half the income of about 25 per cent of the country's rural labour force. However, poor harvesting practices and over-exploitation in the face of increasing market demand are threatening the sustainability of these resources, and thus the livelihoods of forest-dependent tribal communities. This article analyses the role of NTFPs in livelihoods-improvement initiatives and considers recent initiatives intended to enhance their conservation and sustainable management. It recommends policies to optimise the potential of NTFPs, both to support rural livelihoods and to contribute to India's social, economic, and environmental well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the purposes of accountability and uniformity, and as a way of giving insight into their intellectual capital regarding development practices, NGOs in Southern Africa are required by donor agencies to describe their intended activities in very clear, unambiguous terms. These requirements may include the expression of theoretical approaches, the development of logical frameworks, clear objectives, indicators for success, criteria for sustainable development, and relationships to government policies. However, the interface between reality and these planning measures and tools, most often completed without the input and contributions of the communities whom they are to serve/service, produces a much more messy, dynamic, and involved picture of the development process. None the less, the NGOs are still required to be accountable on the basis of their original proposal and planning. The author presents examples of this phenomenon and discusses the challenges facing an evaluator when dealing with competing principles of accountability, autonomy, and authenticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article throws light on the practice and policy contradictions of women and the burden of unsustainable development. The rhetoric defines sustainable development as "that which meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2001) describes sustainable development as integrating the economic, social and environmental objectives of the society, in order to maximize human well-being in the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their need. These definitions have evolved from the experience of environmental development between the 1970s and 1990s, against which the author will now set his own experience.